UNSC Spectre
by LastChaos
Summary: The rest of the galaxy may know John Shepard as the first human spectre, but there was a reason why he was chosen above everyone else for this honor. These are the early years of ODST John before he was John Shepard the first human spectre
1. Chapter 1

AN: Halo was the first game I ever picked up and played, and it's still one of my all time favorites. Mass effect may be the only game I find more appealing then halo, so why not have both of them together? I've seen a few good crossover fics, and decided to give my own shot at it. It was written and typed up in math class, so I might change a few things later, but I couldn't wait to see what people think. BTW I haven't really thought out all the details yet, but I figured I'd go with the flow.

"Combat drop in 30 seconds! Remember your training and maybe you'll make it out alive in one piece. Good luck to you all, and live forever apes!" The rallying cry of lieutenant Copperfield did little to reassure John seeing as he had never been to proper training, nor felt particularly lucky.

Two months prior to him sitting with trembling legs inside an orbital drop pod, John had been another gang oriented orphan running wild on the streets of Mindoir, but then the Covenant came. The leadership issued a mandatory draft of all men and women of fighting age, but nobody had even asked John how old he was before they'd handed him a pistol and told him to, 'Shoot anything that looks remotely alien." By some miracle, the 16 year old had managed to survive the overrun of the position he had been sent to defend, and with a handful of other survivors had begun trying to escape. Fighting his way through hordes of covenant forces, John had given himself a quick crash course in the use of both human and covenant weapons through trial and error.

Barely making it onto one of the last few pelicans headed towards the alliance cruisers about to take off, John had breathed a sigh of relief thinking the worst was over. Watching his world being reduced to ashes through glassing, it finally hit him that humanity was truly on the brink of extinction.

As per Cole Protocol, the captain of the Crimson Fist had made a blind jump into slip space, and exiting and rejumping half a dozen times. But on the last jump before they would head towards a safe port, they happened upon an insurgent colony under siege from covenant forces. Though they were still technically the enemy, the captain had issued orders to drop troop sand evact the civilians. Volunteering with a handful of other "Mindoir Militia" as they had been calling themselves, John had flown down in a pelican and slogged through the sandy planet for 2 days fighting covenant forces and earning himself half a dozen new scars and a cracked skull for his effort. An elite minor had gotten close enough to club him, but he had ducked in time to save himself from having his brains dashed out on the ground. A nearby marine had managed to unload his shotgun into the weakened elite before it could finish John off, but he was out of the fight. He had hazy memories of being carried to a pelican, but when he woke up again, the Crimson Fist had already taken off. He never did learn the name of the marine that saved him, though he apparently the company he had been fighting with had been overrun and slaughtered to the last man.

They spent the next month jumping from random point to random point until the AI could determine that no covenant forces were trailing them. During the idle time, John had made fast friends with the local marines and was often invited along to practice at the shooting range. With a few pointers, they found that John had a natural talent for sharp shooting, and the resident sniper 'Rooster' had taken John under is wing and taught the teen how to properly handle a sniper rifle and the finer points to long range combat. Though he had yet to actually use what he learned on a live target, John felt confident that he knew one end of the sniper rifle from the other.

The captain had announced that they would be headed for Reach, and upon hearing that everyone had heaved a sigh of relief. Reach was the most developed and well protected planet outside of Earth itself, with a population larger then the home planet since the lush green world was even larger then mother Terra. So when they had arrived to the spectacle of hundreds of covenant capital ships, there had been a moment of absolute shock and even denial in some cases. The sight of Reach under siege brought a deep feeling of dread into everyone present. If even Reach was not safe, then no where was safe.

The Crimson Fist had immediately jumped into combat alert and began hurling towards the planet intent on dropping her troops before joining the hundreds of other UNSC warships waging battle over the planets skies. John had snatched up a spare sniper rifle and had been in the process of loading up his bandolier with ammunition when a dark armored figure had appeared inside the marine's armory. The full plate visor made it impossible to see the face of the soldier, and only the name patch identified him as Lt. Copperfield. The arrival of the ODST brought a slight lull to the action in the armory. Clearing his throat, the shock trooper banged his fist against the wall to get everyone's attention.

"My ODST division has taken some hard hits back on Mindoir and the insurgent colony we so kindly saved." A bought of grim chuckles filled the room. Any other time, they would have pounded the surface of the planet with missiles themselves, but humans were humans, even if they were insurgents. "Currently I have 6 open drop pods in my division and I ain't too picky on who climbs in them as long as they're willing to shoot some split chin aliens! That said, I need 6 crazy sons of bitches, or just crazy bitches, willing to climb into a metal coffin and have their asses shot to the surface of the planet! Any volunteers?"

Before John had even processed what half the trooper had said, he found himself in front of the intimidating faceless soldier. "I'll go if you'll take me sir."

Golden visor turned to face the teen. "You Mindoir Militia son?"

Jutting his chin out slightly John nodded defiantly. Clapping a hand on his back, the trooper gave a loud laugh. "You got balls kid. Alright that's one down, anyone else? I still got 5 front row tickets to the deepest pits of hell, and maybe if you're lucky you'll get to shake hands with the devil before this shits over."

Another 3 men and a woman stepped forward next to John, and seeing no one else moving, the lieutenant beckoned for them to follow. Marching them towards the ODST armory, the man had then proceeded to give a rushed orientation of what was about to happen to them as they were sent hurtling from the ship towards the planets surface at deadly speeds that would cause them to either lose control of their bowels or empty their stomachs seeing as none of them had been trained for it. Arriving inside the Special Forces private armory, the LT introduced the volunteers as the 'Dream Team' which got a good laugh out of the present drop troopers. Standard black vacuum sealed armor was issued to the 5 volunteers, and a 2 minute crash course was given on what all the blips and symbols meant inside the helmets HUD.

John had barely listened as he strapped on the unfamiliar armor with the help of a nearby ODST, and in no time at all a blaring alarm had sounded out followed by a flashing red light. Pushing the startled recruits out the door after the other rushing ODST, the lieutenant frog marched them to the drop pods before shoving them inside random pods.

A thrill of terror raced down John's spine as the cover came down and sealed with a hiss. On the main screen in front of him, a picture of the lieutenant settling himself in popped up and the teen listened intently as the man began shouting orders as if they were all deaf.

Apparently they were being dropped over the large metropolitan city of New LA, where they were to rendezvous with local marine forces and hold off the covenant forces long enough to evact the civilians. Until all civilians were gone and the retreat orders were given, they were to dig in and kill as many aliens as they could, or die trying. Survival was only a secondary objective.

As the 30 second countdown flashed insistently in the background of the main screen, John once more wondered what in gods name had made him volunteer for this suicide run. Feeling his clammy palms inside the slightly oversized glove, he had a sudden urge to force his way out of the pod. This couldn't be happening. He wasn't ready to die yet! Before his panic attack could take a full grip, the clear viewing window on his pod polarized, and his heart leapt into his throat and dropped back down into his stomach. Darkness raced past the viewing window and a series of wild hoot sand hollers echoed by a few terrified screams (one of them might be him, though he was too scared to tell at the moment), and even a muttered prayer issued from the loudspeakers linking his pod with his fellow troopers.

As the planet grew closer, some of the fear began receding and John became aware of the steady pulse of blood pounding in his head. A sudden flash of flames followed by a cut off scream sent a new jolt of terror through his body.

"Shit!" screamed the lieutenant. "Debris! Use manual control to stee-" The image cut out into static as another plume of flames exploded below John's pod, and the teen realized that the lieutenant was gone. The terror returned ten fold at this realization. If even a hardened drop trooper like the LT had been wasted, what chance did he have? As his heart reached an unbearable pace, another trooper's image replaced the static.

"LT's down, god rest his soul. I'm taking charge now. Orders still stand. Feet first into hell troops!" a chorus of 'hooaah' issued through the speakers and the Mindoir survivor felt himself relax slightly. Before he could settle down again, his pod began to rattle and shake so hard he was sure it would explode. The fear once more returned, and teen could feel warm liquid dribble down the side of his leg. Crap!

"For you dream team recruits, ignore the rattling and shaking that is about to come. Feel free to scream like a little girl if you want, but know that no on here will let you live this down! Pods upon entry can reach up to 120 degree Fahrenheit, but you will only have to bear it long enough to get into the atmosphere where the pods will vent themselves. Barely hearing what the man was yelling, John held the hand rail with a death grip as the pod increased in its rattling and shaking. At this rate, he might actually shit himself! The heat began to climb inside the pod, and the outside viewing glass had begun glowing red hot, even through the polarized window. All of a sudden, a massive hiss filled his pod, and the temperature began to fall, and the fire encasing the pod faded, much to the teen's relief. Staring out the side, John could make out the landscape below as it gradually came closer. A metallic thunk followed by an upward tug unlike anything he had ever experienced before jolted his trembling drop ship. It was as if someone was trying to tear out his spine by pulling on his head! John's vision blackened for a moment before fading back into focus. He had just enough time to realize he was seeing the side of a building racing by before a massive jolt shook the metal coffin hard enough to crack his teeth as they slammed together. As his vision swam, he realized that the pod had stopped moving. He'd made it to the surface in one piece!

The sudden halt to the ride did nothing to calm the rushing blood and adrenaline coursing through his body, and the wailing inside the pod did little to reassure him. Seeing the huge flashing red button to the right, John figured it must be the way to open the pod. Steeling himself, John smashed his hand on the button. He had a war to fight.

AN: Leave a message at the beep.


	2. Chapter 2

It was strange really, how fast someone's life could change. Barely 2 months before John had finally managed to kill the leader of the Red's and accomplishing his lifelong ambition of attaining status on the streets. Nobody messed with the Red's, and certainly nobody messed with the Red's leader. Fast forward 60 days, and here he was, crouching in the dirt next to half a dozen strangers firing a sniper rifle into the advancing infantry of the covenant war machine.

"Oh shit. Oh shit. Man we are so screwed!" John's HUD highlighted the muttering marine as Jack Randall. The man held a standard issued assault rifle, and currently the weapon was blazing away at top speed, jolting the panicking marine's aim. Popping his head out of the makeshift trench the garrisoned marine's had dug up, John lined up the rifle sight on a jackal and laid the targeting reticule right over the exposed part of the aliens arm behind the glowing forearm shield it carried. Exhaling out just as Rooster had taught him, the teen pulled the trigger. A deafening boom cracked out from the rifle, and the aliens arm disappeared in a shower of purple blood. The shield clattered to the floor and the reptilian alien stumbled a bit and stared down incomprehensively at the stump where its arm had once been. It gave another squawk as half a dozen smg rounds slammed into its body, dropping the invader where it stood.

"Nice shot man!" Corporal Jenkins on John's left seemed much calmer then Jack and it had been his chattering smg that had finished the jackal.

"Thanks. Though that's the last round for me. Don't suppose you're carrying around any sniper mags?" John had carried 6 spare magazines with him from the Crimson fist, giving him a total of 28 rounds including the ones already loaded in his rifle, and though he had been careful to make his shots count, it wasn't that surprising that he had run dry after spending 2 hours on the surface of Reach. His pod had basically fallen right next to the trench he was currently defending, and he had barely moved since he had bunkered down to back up the local marine detail. In fact if he squinted hard enough he could still see part of his pod half hidden behind the rubble of the bakery he had torn down on the way in.

"Heh yeah, right pal. I got 1 mag left for my smg and 3 rounds in my pistol. You can have my toothbrush if you want. Doubt I'll have much use for that soon."

Upholstering the M6D magnum on his thigh, John drew a bead on a charging grunt whose fists were glowing an alarming blue with two well placed head shots. The diminutive alien's suicide rush came to a halt and the explosive in its hand discharged sending a blinding shower of plasma cascading in all directions. A secondary explosion rocked the ground as the grunt's methane tank ruptured and caught fire.

The corporal whistled and turned to pat John on the shoulder. "Hey nice one! We would have been toast if that-" A beam of blue light cut off the rest of the man's sentence as his head exploded in a shower of gore, covering a shocked John in gray and red. Jenkin's body still stood for a moment with blood shooting out of the neck in timed rhythmic pulses. A heavy weight hit the Mindoir survivor from behind and sent him to the ground just as another deadly beam shot by overhead.

"Sniper!" screamed Jack as he squirmed off the boy. "They got Jenkins! Somebody take that fucker out!" Scrambling to his feet, John cautiously peered out in time to catch a third beam coming out from the building adjacent to where the troops had placed themselves.

"The roof!" he hollered. "9 0'clock! Third window from the left!"

"FRAG OUT!" The handheld explosive was lobbed high, but the aim was true. The unsuspecting jackal had a chance to get off one more shot before the grenade clattered into the room it was holding position in. A dull thump and a cloud of dark smoke followed by a shower of glass signified the end of that threat. Grabbing the dead corporal's smg while trying to avoid looking at the dead man's body, John's mind began racing. The rooftop there was an excellent place to shoot from, and most likely the sniper's beam rifle still had a few charges left. It would be worth the risk to try to get a hold of that position to get a better idea of what the hell was going on.

Making his way down the lines toward the building from where the alien sniper had been shooting from, John paused long enough to yell his intentions to a nearby sergeant. Seeing the woman nod and order the nearby troopers to give covering fire on the pack of grunts charging forward, the boy vaulted out of cover and made a beeline for the doorway 20 yards away. Green plasma bolts streaked by with deadly hisses, and John returned fire blindly with the smg, legs pumping for all their worth. Streaking into the darkened hallway of the doorframe the teen hunched over his knees and sucked in air. Revitalized by the feeling of pumping blood, John peered cautiously over the corner to make sure nothing had followed. Not seeing anything behind him, the pseudo ODST dropped the now empty smg before he took to the stairs and began climbing. It had been on the 4th floor, and within seconds he had found the destroyed room. Taking care not to step in the pooling blood of the shredded alien's body, the teen picked off 2 blue spheres and a plasma pistol with half a charge off the corpse.

Spying the elongated and oddly smooth rifle laying underneath the window, John quickly pocketed the two grenades and used a magnetic clip to attaché the alien pistol to his left thigh. Snatching up the particle rifle, he tested the weight and stumbled slightly in surprise as his HUD linked up with the beam rifles targeting sights. Nosing the gun gently out the window, John allowed the rifle to zoom in on an Elite taking cover behind the wrecked shell of a family van. A quick twitch of his finger and the things brains decorated the pavement with a flash of light. Noticing the slight drop in what he assumed was the battery meter of the rifle, he estimated about 2 shots left, perhaps 3 before the rifle ran dry.

"The hell do you see up there trooper?" The sergeant's voice filtered in through the helmet as he took sights on another elite, this one blazing away with 2 rifles.

"Aliens. Lots of them." Another twitch of his finger and the covenant lost another soldier.

There was along static filled pause in which John took the time to take out another Jackal before the woman's voice filled his helmet again.

"Shit! We just got orders from HQ, civies are evaced and we can pull back. Haul ass space ape, or we're leaving you behind!"

A clatter from behind caused the boy to turn around and roll out from underneath the brutal melee of an elite minor just in time. The needler slammed into the window frame hard enough to leave cracks. Panicking, he fired the beam rifle from his hip, wasting the last shot on a near miss that caused the elite's shields to crackle and fail. Rolling out from beneath another melee strike, the boy fumbled for the plasma pistol and got a rough kick that sent him flying to the opposite side of the room where he collapse in a gasping heap on top of the dead jackal.

"Get up human." Though the words were English, somehow the alien managed to say it in such a twisted and gruttled way, John knew no human could ever manage to emulate the deep baritones that grated harshly against his ears. "I want you to see your death coming!"

Stumbling to his knees, and praying that the alien wouldn't open fire until he fully stood, John fumbled for one the blue spheres in his back pouch bandolier. "Why are you doing this? What have we done to warrant this genocide?"

The alien's mandibles spread out in what might have been a sneer. "You existed. But not for long. You're dead."

Tightening his fist around the walnut sized globe, John felt the grenade pulse and warm in his hand before expanding to the size of a peach. "You first asshole!"

Arching his arm back like a pro baseball pitcher, the teen let loose and hurled the explosive straight into the alien's face where it caught and began glowing even brighter. Diving behind the dresser, John had enough time to wish he'd jumped in the other direction before the concussive force of the exploding grenade slammed his head against the wall. Darkness claimed him in an instant, and the ODST volunteer collapsed to the ground next to the dead jackal.


End file.
